A/N: I apologize for taking this much time to post this, but here it is now, and I hope you enjoy it as much as you did the other chapters. And no, there is no lemon in this - but there are a few time-skips. Why are they there? Because I wanted them there. I don't feel like having several chapters going over what a single chapter can contain. Either way, I hope you all like it.
Connections
"Hey, have you given any thought to the idea of getting a turbo dueling license?"
"Not really. Why, you think I could do it?"
"I think you have the skills, yeah."
"Seriously?"
"Yeah, I think you should go for it."
There was a pause as a few more clinks and tinks resounded in the garage.
"Then I have a question."
"Yeah?"
"Just where do I go to get a license?"
The other person chuckled, as he continued to work on the duel runner that was before him. His friend had a mind like a steel trap, he'd caught on how to mess with a runner very fast.
"So we're going to learn turbo dueling soon?"
"Oh, I can't wait to see you in action on a runner!"
"Stardust, you're sounding like a kid that just won a bunch a candy."
Stardust rolled his eyes at his friend, "I don't care, I still can't wait for that."
"Then I guess Leyvaten and I are going for it, huh?"
"Apparently we are," Leyvaten agreed amusedly, giving an equally amused look to her mate. "We'll have to set up a runner for us, huh, Jake?"
"Shouldn't be too hard, right, Yusei?" Jake prodded his friend with a grin, who gave an exasperated sigh.
"Jake, do you have any idea how much work it takes to make a runner?" Yusei exclaimed.
"Considering how much you're whining about it?" Jake continued to tease. "Yes."
Yusei sighed, "Brat."
"Takes one to know one."
The older duelist gave his friend a look that made Jake and Leyvaten laugh, even as the younger one pulled away and let Yusei take over completely.
"So, do you actually know where I can get a license?" Jake asked
"There should be a spot near the academy."
"Then I guess I'll go sign up now, it's better than sitting here and watch you play with your toys."
"Oh, like you're any better!"
Jake laughed as he walked out of the garage, heading out towards the place where he could get licensed as a turbo duelist, Leyvaten opting to stay where she was curled up comfortably against her mate. Yusei shook his head at his friend.
"That guy's nuts, but considering the company he puts up with, I suppose I shouldn't be surprised," He commented.
"Hey!" Leyvaten exclaimed, getting a chuckle out of the two males in the room. "You should be glad I'm not testing to see how well my blade works in terms of fixing a duel runner, brat."
Yusei paused as he thought, looking at Leyvaten. The dragon-type blinked, before raising her eyeridge.
"I wasn't serious, you know..." She commented with a deadpan-tone.
"No, not that," Yusei said, dropping his current project and immediantly searching for some spare parts that were lying around. Stardust and Leyvaten watched as pile of mismatched items grew rapidly in the middle of the garage. "Perfect!"
"Uhh... what's perfect?" Stardust asked. Yusei grinned.
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Well, this is the duel academy, Jake thought as he arrived at the large school building. So where's the licensing thing...?
"Jake? What're you doing here?"
Jake blinked, before smiling, "Hey Akiza. I'm looking for where I can get a turbo duelling license."
"You're going to become a turbo duelist?" Akiza asked, intrigued. Jake nodded. "I was actually thinking of doing the same."
"So why don't we just take the same class? That would save a lot of time and money and all that jazz."
Akiza chuckled, "The building over there is the one that has the class. I was going to take it in a month or so, during the next break."
"Because of class?"
"Speaking of which, you're going to be late!" A voice called up to Akiza from her deck, making her start and look at her watch.
"Ack!" Akiza exclaimed. "Thanks, Black Rose! Later, Jake!"
Jake stepped out of his friend's way with a laugh, as she rushed off to her next class. She glared at him over her shoulder, making him laugh a little harder. He started to head over to the building where they could get their license, planning to sign up a reservation in the class that was during the next break of classes.
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"Got it all set up!" Jake exclaimed with a grin as he walked into the garage. "Akiza's going to be taking the class as well, and I set up a reservation for me for the next break between classes."
"A class for what?" Crow asked, finally home from his job.
"Turbo dueling!"
"Oh, so that's why –"
"Hey! Don't tell him yet!"
"Don't tell me what yet?" Jake asked, looking at Yusei with confusion.
"I can't just tell you, that would ruin the surprise!"
Jake shrugged at this. At least he got the reservations done, it would make everything easier later on when the class actually started. He spotted Stardust and Leyvaten where they were when he'd left – curled up together in a corner, but this time they were actually asleep. With a soft smile, and making sure he was silent, the young duelist pulled out a camera and took a picture.
"What do you think?" He asked Yusei quietly, showing the result. The pro nodded his approval as he returned to working on the same runner he and Jake had been working on earlier.
"Pretty good. Are you going to print it or something?"
"Hm... printing and framing it would be nice."
Yusei nodded, making sure he got a copy of the image to keep for himself, to which Jake agreed. He then said he was going to go get some turbo dueling cards with money he'd earned at various odd jobs. Crow and Jack had left to do their various things, leaving Yusei behind at the garage. He thought of everything that had happened in the past few months. Like recently... that duel bot... that Meklord Emperor had really scared him, especially when it snagged Stardust away like that. Leyvaten had gotten very worried almost immediantly, and the moment her mate was back and out of a duel, smothered him in a hug – it was kind of the reason she had yet to leave his side, because she knew that the experience still haunted both Stardust and Yusei. After a few minutes of silence, the door opened, and a man that looked to be in his thirties or fourties walked in after knocking.
"Can I help you?" Yusei asked the man, pausing in his working on the runner.
"Yes, I was wondering if Yusei Fudo was here," The man asked.
"You've got him."
"I could use some help with a machine... it's got a few screws loose, it's very opinionated, and it won't stop talking at faculty meetings."
"It talks? What kind of machine is it?"
"It's something called the Rudolph Heitmann..."
Yusei gave a tilt of his head in confusion. Stardust had just slipped away from his mate, convincing her that he would be fine so she should just keep sleeping instead.
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Jake was just going back towards the garage, having spent his personally-set allowance on the cards he would use to build a deck. It was on his way back that he noticed Stardust hanging around Academy and decided to investigate.
"Decided to take a cat-nap on the roof of the school, Stardust?" Jake called up to the duel monster. Said creature rolled his eyes before hovering down to the ground, catching a lot of the kids off-guard.
"No, Yusei's in there getting ready for a duel," Stardust countered. "Something about the vice-chancellor wanting to expel Leo and Luna's entire class because they don't have monsters bigger than a four star."
"That has to be the lamest reason for expulsion I've ever heard... so Yusei's going to duel this guy, on the bet that if he wins, the class stays? I'm not sure if I want to ignore it, or go in and take notes."
"Notes? On what?"
"On any mistake Yusei makes so I can torture him about it later, of course!"
Stardust sighed with exasperation at this, but he never got the chance to stop the younger duelist, as Jake was already heading inside.
"Jake!" Stardust called. "Oh come on, I can't go in there!"
"Then you'll just have to go back to your cat-nap!" Jake called back through the doors. Stardust glowered through the glass, before noticing the crowd he was attracting.
"Uhhh... Jake, wait, I need some help here!" Stardust tried calling for his friend, but noticed the kid was already out of hearing range. "Jake? Jake! Don't leave me with these kids!"
"Is it a robot?" A kid was wondering.
Stardust bit back a groan, this was just great. Apparently he needed to figure out a way to get into buildings. Was it possible to change size at will? It would certainly make it easier to go around with his duelist. At least he could hear through his card what was happening.
"Hey, Akiza, long time no see, right?" Jake greeted as he joined his friends in the stands behind Yusei.
"Jake? What're you doing here?" Akiza asked, Leo and Luna's attention also captured.
"Well, there was a great big Stardust on the roof, so I came over to see what was happening. How's the duel going?"
"Yusei just got pounded for three thousand points of damage!"
"Oh, he did?" Jake asked, making a mental note of it. Something to tease him about later.
"Wait, Stardust Dragon is here?" One of Leo's friends asked, confused. "But he was already sent to the graveyard to summon a bunch of other tuner monsters!"
Jake looked down at the arena, the kid was right. Four tuners stood there on the field, waiting to strike at Yusei's instruction.
"Those three aren't a part of his deck, so I guess you kids lent them to him?"
The kids nodded, returning their attention to the duel. Jake watched, and frowned at the attitude of the chancellor. This guy really didn't know his stuff, did he? Oh well, it was over almost as quickly as it had started, and Jake went down there with Akiza and the rest of the kids.
"Good work, Yusei," Jake congratulated.
"What're you doing here? Already got the cards you wanted?"
"Yeah... grabbed a few booster packs, and got a card that was really good. I'm certain I'll be using it."
"But what got you here?"
"He mentioned something of Stardust being on the roof and getting his attention," Leo said. "Is Stardust really here?"
Yusei realized that if Jake and Stardust had talked, then the duel monster had probably been swarmed by some other kids that were intrigued by his physical existence. This thought made him wonder exactly how well that went over, so he decided to race outside and see. The others followed, those who hadn't met Stardust in person froze in shock and awe. If he were to be honest, Jake was surprised the dragon was getting along with the kids as well as he was. Upon spotting the duelists, said dragon stopped and went over to the two of them.
"You know Jake, I should smack you for leaving me like that," Stardust said, giving him a look. Jake just grinned.
"Aw, but why would you be mad at me?" Jake asked teasingly, his grin pretty much permanent. "You seem to get along well with the kids!"
"That doesn't mean you should've just left me here like you did!"
"I don't know," Yusei said, smirking. "It seems to be fine here. I don't see any scorch marks, so clearly it wasn't so bad."
"Why would you assume that there'd be scorch marks? I'm not that bad, Yusei!"
"Stardust Dragon is real?" A friend of Leo's said at that moment, saying the thoughts of the group of kids there. Stardust bit back a groan, he didn't want to play with anymore children today.
"Are we done here? Can we please head back to the garage?"
Yusei chuckled as he nodded, "C'mon, guys, let him go. We have to head home."
There was a chorus of sad moans, but the children backed up and let the dragon launch high into the skies, glad to be relieved of that mess. It took only a few minutes for them to get home, Jake hitching a ride on Yusei's runner.
"So you were stuck playing with kids all afternoon?" The words that they walked in on, spotting Leyvaten talking to Stardust, very clearly amused. "Did you at least have some fun?"
"Well... a little..." Stardust admitted after a moment. "But still, Jake just up and left me like that... your duelist is a brat, you know that?"
"Thanks, but she's already mentioned it a few times," Jake cut in with a chuckle, getting their attention, as he and Yusei walked into the garage.
"Anyway, so what cards did you get at the shop, Jake?" Yusei cut in.
"Some pretty good ones."
"...You aren't going to say, are you?"
"Not a chance, that would ruin the surprise!"
Yusei rolled his eyes.
"I think I have a new goal to go for," Stardust interjected, catching their attention. "I wasn't able to go in with you because I'm too large for the entrances."
"What, you want to try to shrink or something?" Leyvaten asked. She didn't expect her mate to actually nod in agreement, and blinked at the response. "Huh... I guess it's possible. Once you get it down, let me know."
"That would be interesting, going around with a plushie-sized duel monster," Jake commented. "Although it would certainly ruin the intimidation factor you like so much."
Yusei laughed, "It really would, wouldn't it? Stardust, the size of a plushie? Heh, adorable!"
"Well, I think an adorable Stardust is perfectly fine," Leyvaten said.
"And I think a sweet plushie Leyvaten isn't a bad thing either," Stardust agreed.
Yusei and Jake looked at each other, before the latter gave a shrug.
"Let's leave the lovebirds to do their thing," He whispered to his friend, and they returned to working on the same runner as before.
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"Hey, look, our first license class," Jake greeted Akiza.
"And look, it's done and it wasn't hard at all," She continued with a smile.
"Yeah, it really wasn't, huh?"
Jake and Akiza had just gone through their first class for the turbo dueling license, and it was the start of a series of practices and such. After a few classes, Jake was just returning from the card store, still working on his speed duel deck. When he arrived at the garage and started down the ramp, he paused at what he saw.
"Well, look who's here," Crow said with a smirk.
"No way... is that...?" Jake began to say, blinking with surprise.
"Yeah," Leyvaten nodded, smiling. "What do you say?"
Jake was in awe. It looked amazing. It was mostly colored a deep orange, bordering on red. It was designed so that the dueling interface would lean towards the seat, so that Jake wouldn't be leaning forward at all times when riding it – which kind of fit his relaxed personality. The seat had the same kind of curve-over-the-head style of Yusei's back, but there was a stripe that was a gentle green stripe going from the tip of the backseat curve, widening as it went, soon covering the entire back of the curve. The arms had the handles vertical, and they were attatched at the back curve and swung upwards to allow Jake to get on the runner.
The dueling interface was similar to that of Crow's; at resting postion, it was curled up and around the center, which held the graveyard and even a secure slot for when Jake did his remove-cards-from-play method of summoning Leyvaten. When the runner activated Speed World 2, the interface would surface and line up into a single line, also like Crow's. The arm rests – with a green stripe on down their center – held finger guards over the hand holds, with a couple of buttons on each. The screen was similar to that of any generic runner, in terms of size and function; but it currently showed its style. It was a gentle green, like the stripe on the curve. The card screen – which showed an opponent's field and Jake's as well – at the front portion was colored a soft red, and the back portion was yellow.
The rest of the image had a background of beige, mixing well with the other colors. The speed counters were marked by, in true Jake-style, little coins that filled up a bar near the top. The life point counter was had a little box of its own, and whenever the numbers changed, as it was testing right then, it showed the original number being sliced in half and replaced by the new total. The helmet was simple, colored that redish-orange color, with a green diamond right at the top. The screen was just as advanced as any other duel helmet screen, and was tinted black.
"Wow... I... I don't know what to say..." Jake managed.
"It's set up to be sort of a training runner, like Akiza's," Crow explained calmly.
"You can use it to train on for the class," Yusei continued.
"And be different from those other chumps with their lame runners!" Jack cut in.
"So? What do you think?" Leyvaten asked.
"Does it have your color scheme on purpose?" Jake wondered.
"We thought it would be a good idea to do it that way."
"I... thank you so much, guys..."
They nodded, their smiles infectious.
"The exam is a duel against a security officer," Leyvaten said. "Can't wait to ride and win."
Jake smiled as the two of them shared a high-five, "I can't wait for that, either."
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"Well done, Akiza!" Jake exclaimed, grinning as they shared a high-five, Akiza having just passed the final exam – even with the other three's pathetic attempt to stop her by knocking those poles into the road.
"Yeah!" She agreed happily.
The two of them had, at last, made it to the final exam to get their license – and Akiza had just suceeded in defeating Officer Trudge. Now for Jake to do the same. Even better, Stardust and Leyvaten had actually succeeded in learning how to change the size of their physical forms to being much smaller – and if Jake was honest, Leyvaten's small form was absolutely adorable. Yusei could kind of agree with that for Stardust's, actually. Right now, though, they were in their normal forms and watching from where they were near the stands.
"Well, Jake? Get a move on!" Trudge called. "This handsome officer has been waiting to –"
"Handsome officer?" Jake interrupted, making a show of looking around. "Odd, I don't see any."
Jake's friends stifled their laughter, while the officer rolled his eyes.
"Just get your butt on your runner and get ready to duel!"
Jake smirked, "You're on, Trudge!"
Jake pulled on his helmet, and just as he'd practiced for the past couple of weeks, he rode right up next to the officer.
"Nice ride there, kid," The man complimented before giving a smirk. "Hand-made by your friends? Can't wait to scrap it!"
"I don't know if you're strong enough for that, old man!" Jake taunted in return.
"If Trudge thinks he can trash talk Jake and unnerve him, he's got another think coming!" Crow grinned.
And then they were off at the instructor's order.
"Think you can take the first turn, Kali?" Trudge taunted from behind the teen.
"What, you want to take it?" Jake asked, before backing off. "Fine, then, go ahead."
Trudge blinked, even as he was given the right to take the first turn. Then he smirked again and drew, just as Jake did.
Oh, so you're already in my hand? Can't wait to take a shot at this, I bet, Jake send down his connection to his deck.
"I'm going to summon Stygian Street Patrol to the field!" Trudge called, cutting through his opponent's musings. "Then I'll play a face-down and call it a turn."
Stygian Street Patrol (Fiend/Effect): 1600 ATK/1200 DEF, 4 Stars
"Then it's my draw," Jake said, calmly pulling the top card off of his newly modified deck – and smiled at what he received. "First I'll summon Dragunity Tribus to the field in defense mode, and as a result, I send Dragunity Aklys from my deck to my graveyard."
Dragunity Tribus (Winged Beast/Effect): 500 ATK/300 DEF, 1 Star
"Then I'll end my turn with three face-downs. Your move, Trudge."
"Then I draw – and Stygian Street Patrol will attack, and when it destroys your monster, you take 100 points of damage multiplied by the monster's level!"
Jake's eyes narrowed as Tribus was sent to the graveyard, and as he lost 100 life points.
"Then I end my turn! You can do better than that, Jake! What's wrong, you scared?"
SPC (Both): 2
Jake: 3900 LP
Trudge: 4000 LP
"Of an old man like you? Not a chance!" Jake grinned, as he drew. "Then I'll activate my face-down – Legacy of Yata-Garasu! It allows me to draw one card!"
After a few moments, Jake placed two trap cards – and summoned one monster.
"I summon Dragunity Legionnaire! When he's successfully summoned, I choose one monster in my graveyard, and equip them to him, and I choose Dragunity Aklys!"
Dragunity Legionnare (Winged Beast/Effect): 1200 ATK/ 800 DEF, 3 Stars
Dragunity Aklys (Dragon/Tuner): 1000 ATK/800 DEF, 2 Stars
"Then, through Legionnaire's ability, I sacrifice Aklys in order to destroy your Stygian Street Patrol!"
"What!" Trudge exclaimed, watching as his monster was obliterated.
"But now Aklys' ability triggers – because he was sent to the graveyard while equipped to a monster, I can destroy your face-down!"
Trudge grit his teeth as his Countdown – which would deal 500 points of damage for each face-down card he sacrificed – was destroyed and sent to the graveyard.
"Then Legionnaire will attack you directly for 1200!"
The officer cried out as he was hit with the beast's powerful strikes, bringing him down a notch.
"Your move, officer," Jake said, as he passed Trudge on the lane.
"Wow, good shot!" Leo cheered.
"That was an excellent combo," Yusei agreed. "It got rid of both of Trudge's card and made him less of a threat."
"My draw!" Trudge called, grabbing the top card of his deck.
Both Players: 3 SPC
Jake: 3900 LP
Trudge: 2800 LP
"Not so fast!" Jake's smirk widened. "Since it's your Standby Phase, I can now activate this trap card – Class Change!"
"Class Change?" Trudge asked, confused.
"For the next three turns, all ground spells are considered speed spells, and all speed spells are considered ground spells! So if you have a spell to cast, you can forget it!"
Trudge grit his teeth, "Fine, I'll summon another Stygian Street Patrol instead, and attack your Legionnaire!"
"I activate the trap card, Windstorm of Etequa! It forces all of your monsters to change battle position!"
Trudge frowned and ended his turn there.
Both Players: 4 SPC
Jake: 3900 LP
Trudge: 2800 LP
Class Change: 3 Turns Left
"My draw," Jake said, smiling at what he received. "I activate Monster Reincarnation! By discarding a card, I can add a monster back to my hand, and I think I'll summon him! Welcome back to the playing field, Aklys!"
Trudge's eyes narrowed at the monster that was back, and watched as Jake spun around and started to drift backwards. It had taken a lot of practice to get that down. The officer clearly saw the teen's confident look, and understood easily that this wasn't going to end well for him.
"Now, Aklys' ability triggers! Because he was summoned, I can special summon one Dragunity monster in my hand and equip them with Aklys – and I special summon Dragunity Arma Leyvaten!"
Stardust smirked as his mate appeared on the field, having focused her spirit into her card to ride along side her duelist for just this moment – for their very first turbo duel. She roared her challenge to Trudge, whom paled slightly. This wasn't going to end well, no way.
Dragunity Arma Leyvaten (Dragon/Effect): 2600 ATK/1200 DEF, 8 Stars
"Now, because of Leyvaten's ability, I can special summon Dragunity Brandistock from the graveyard and equip her with him," Jake continued.
Dragunity Brandistock (Dragon/Tuner): 600 ATK/400 DEF, 1 Star
"But before we attack, I activate another trap card – Final Attack Orders! Now until this card is destroyed, all monsters must be in attack mode!"
"Oh, no!" Trudge exclaimed, as his monster was changed into a dangerous position.
"Oh yeah! Leyvaten, show that patrol the way back to the police academy!"
The dragon smirked, flew forward at high speed, raised her blade and swung. Stygian Street Patrol was no more, and Trudge grunted at the damage he took as a result.
Both Players: 4 SPC
Jake: 3900 LP
Trudge: 1800 LP
Class Change: 3 Turns Left
"Now because of Brandistock's ability, Leyvaten can attack twice per turn!"
"Say what!" Trudge cried out, just before Jake's powerful monster took out his remaining life points.
In moments, his duel runner spewed smoke out of its hub, causing him to screech to a halt as he lost the duel. He gave Jake a thumbs-up, whom returned it and finished the lap. The next thing he knew, he was getting and giving high-fives and fist-bumps from his friends.
"Great duel, man!" Crow congratulated.
"That was awesome!" Leo agreed with enthusiasm, grinning widely. Jake laughed at this.
"Well, I try," He grinned, as he stepped off the runner. "And now I'm qualified as a turbo duelist. That's another trouble-maker ready to ride the streets, eh, Akiza?"
"I'm not that bad!" She objected, glowering at her friend, even as the group of them got onto their rides – Leo and Luna resorting to hitching a ride on other runners.
"Was that the trap card you were keeping a secret? The Class Change one?" Jack asked. "That's a really powerful card."
"Yeah, I opened it in one of the packs I found," Jake nodded. "It's why I kept some ground spells in the deck, because I knew that I would be able to use them. I can even use this deck in ground duels because of it."
"That really opens up a whole lot of possibilities," Crow commented.
There was a nod of agreement, as they all headed back to their homes. The world now had a couple of other turbo duelists to look out for now...
A/N: Hee hee, it's fun messing with Stardust's head the way I do :D. Yup, Jake's become an even better duelist since the fight with the Dark Signers. The "Class Change" card is one that I came up with.